Happy Endings are for the Brave
by Eillibsniknej
Summary: High School Bechloe Au. "You told me you loved me, and then you threw it all back in my face like I was the crazy one. Like I made this entire relationship up in my head. Why do you act like I'm the only one invested in this? Like I'm the only one that has real feelings here? One second you're in love with me and then the next you're pushing me aside like last weeks garbage."
1. The Start

_A/N: Okay, here goes. First Bechloe, usual disclaimer stuff. Also, I do not live in America therefore do not necessarily fully understand the High School Education system. If you see a mistake, please let me know._

She was typical.

But that was okay, because she knew she was.

She was a typical, All-American girl next door. Head cheerleader, but not stupid. Popular, but not mean. Intimidating, yet incredibly approachable. She was nice. As in ridiculously so. Not that she really thought so herself, she just considered it to be optimistic friendliness. She never spoke down to someone, or condescended, only responded in light tones and the occasional excited squeal.

She was beloved by everyone in school, teachers and fellow students alike. Her infectious smile managing to melt even Mr. Fogburn's old, should've given up on teaching about 30 years ago, heart. Everyone wanted to be friends with her, and almost everyone was. From the jocks, to the nerds, to the goths, to the orchestra geeks, everyone would swoon when greeted by their own actual name.

Every time.

How she managed to memorise the names of the entire school was anybody's guess, but she somehow achieved the impossible. Not her best attribute, however, as it has led to a spot of trouble here and there. Like the infamous incident of the asthma attack she had induced in scientist-to-be Jeffery Hickory after chirping his name in her usual sociable way. She had tried to apologise afterwards, of course, but when her affectionate personality automatically placed a hand on the scrawny shoulder of her victim... Well, let's just say the asthma attack was much less embarrassing compared to the ambulance that was summoned to pick up the fainting teen.

Her friends were also quite typical, though much different to their bubbly companion.

The blonde was the typical HBIC Cheerleader type. Perfection was a bare minimum. 4.0 GPA was expected, 3.9 was failure. Routine practiced and performed slickly, one arm out of place or a second behind was another hour of practice. She was sharp, abrupt, and probably more feared than even the principal herself. She also had the reputation of having made a kid faint, though it did not stem from an overwhelming sense of niceness. Needless to say the kid was scared shitless, transferring schools later that year.

The other was a tall brunette that had somehow managed to convince the teachers and principal that six inch stiletto heels were not only _not_ a violation of the schools dress code but also an essential part of her intricate learning process. They really couldn't argue with her, she was their top student in most subjects, even winning them state and national recognition in a few science competitions. So maybe she wasn't the typical party girl, but most of the time it was easy to forget. She didn't project smart, she projected sex. She walked like sex personified and she flirted with anything with a pulse. Innuendo was her first language, followed closely by English smattered with sex jokes. Yep, with the amount of daily cleavage the brunette displayed, it was easy to forget that she could easily be the first female president.

They were an odd group. Not the left out, sit in the corner of the cafeteria eating their feelings odd, more mismatched. They shouldn't work, but they do. Since kindergarten they had been inseparable following a bullying incident that had left the redhead sitting alone in the sandbox with tears in her eyes. The blonde had promptly found the boy responsible and wrestled him to the floor in the pursuit of justice. The apology had been swift and tearful before the boy was finally released back into the wild. The brunette, who had been watching from her favourite oak tree, had swiftly put down her book to approach the still misty-eyed victim. The lollipop that was magically produced from her pocket finally got a megawatt smile to spread onto the face of the little girl that had been wronged. All three sat together for the rest of lunch getting to know each other.

They haven't looked back since.

Their popularity was cemented in middle school, based solely on a certain someone's… assets arriving a little earlier than the other girls in their year. Even when the rest of the class caught up, the three girls had become infamous, through no real input of their own really. The aim wasn't to become popular. The initial plan involved one cheerleader, a science nerd and a musical geek making their way through high school with invisible cloaks on. The type of people that when someone looked back in their yearbook, they would need to think for a minute or two before coming up with any memory of them.

But their plans have never really panned out how they wanted them to.

The redhead, bless her soul, despite her popularity and intensely optimistic outlook, was actually incredibly clumsy. The epitome of this being her plan to let her crush know she wanted to date him in her freshman year. The _plan_ was to walk up to him and plant one on him before admitting her feelings for him. She thought it would be adorable, and sweet. The results, however, left much to be desired. Not only did she completely misjudge the distance to his mouth, she also misjudged the speed of her approach. Long story short and one swift headbutt later, Sam was carted off to the nurse's office, fingers gingerly pinching his now broken nose in an attempt to stem the, disgustingly heavy, blood flow.

Even the perfect have their flaws.

The incident was overlooked and easily forgotten by the fickle student populace. Safe to say though, she never attempted to hit on or approach any more guys. From that moment on she solidified her role as the chased rather than the chaser.

And god damn was she chased.

She had everything. She was nice, funny, smart, friendly and her body was absolutely ridiculous. She was the dream for many men, and a few women here and there. She was the girl you took home to your parents with your arm around her waist. She was the girl you held onto for as long as you could, because you knew that after her you would be spoiled forever, the rest of your days spent finding someone that could possibly live up to her.

Yet despite her many, _many_ offers, she never did a lot of dating. She was incredibly polite to those who became bold enough to ask her out. That patience did tend to wear thin when the occasional douchebag's ego flared at her kind rejection. They were easy to spot, sunglasses could be seen on their person even when inside, hair over-gelled to 'perfection', always somehow chewing gum, never saying a girl's name, referring to them only as 'babe' or 'sweetheart'. They often dropped lines like 'c'mon, you and me would look totally hot together' or 'babe, no need to act like such a bitch, I could show you a real good time'. That last one was always particularly grating, as if somehow 'bitch' could be considered a term of endearment in any possible way. While the smile would remain on her face, it would have visible hints of strain. Her voice would remain polite, but would go up half an octave as she became tense. She was nice, but even she had a limit.

Luckily, she had attracted only a few of those dicklicks (not her words), most accepting refusal like proper human beings. The lucky ones, as they had been dubbed, consisted of exactly three guys.

The first?

Mark Kyne. Freshman year.

There was nothing overly special about Mr. Kyne, nothing she was particularly attracted to. It was more time and place than person if she was honest with herself. It was an awkward time. Both her best friends had managed to snag boyfriends quite easily, both being incredibly attractive and confident women they had about as many offers as herself. In an attempt to feel less lonely, and to fill in the time usually spent with her best friends, she had said yes to the next boy that asked her out. Enter Mark.

Still in his awkward development stage, Mark was kind of tall and gangly. He wasn't unattractive, but he had yet to grow into his body, his face still had traces of baby fat which, coupled with his glasses, made him a little bit dorkier looking than what was probably expected for the perfect girl. He also had a habit of getting incredibly nervous around her, as well as any other pretty girl, resulting in a visually unnoticeable but distinctively odorous load of sweat. Like, an amount that would ruin shirts. She became weary of him putting his arm around her shoulder, not only was the weight and length of his arm rather awkward and hefty, but staying conscious when her senses were overwhelmed by nothing but his… problem… was not the fun experience you'd think it would be. Needless to say, the relationship didn't last too long for the obvious reasons. However, she had much more tact than to just say that, citing irreconcilable differences as the catalyst of their split.

Next came Nathan Matherson. Sophomore year.

Her month long tryst with Mark had definitely stared her away from quick decision boys. And boys in general for that matter. She didn't realise they would be that… gross. Put off for the rest of the year, she decided that the next boy she dated had to be a little more, _developed_ than Mark had been, lest she be stuck with another sweaty McGhee or a bad odour Doug. Doug being a boy in their class that refused to listen to the gym teacher's pleading for him to wear more deodorant. He excuses that spray deodorants release harmful chemicals into the environment and he was unwilling to pollute Mother Nature with anything more than a one second spray under each arm. When offered roll on, the idiot boy refused, saying it didn't work as well. She swears she's never seen a teacher look so ready to punch a student.

Nathan was in Chemistry with her. Their last names were next to each other on the roll, dictating that they sit together and be lab partners. Nate was a little goofy, but he was smart and, she's willing to admit, quite attractive. Like Mark he had brown hair, but where Mark's was oily, Nate's was perfect. A hint of styling gel had his hair perfectly coiffed, but not so much that she couldn't run her hands through it during heated make out sessions in his car. He rocked the purposely messy look, the one that people put a lot of effort into to look like they put in absolutely no effort at all. They had more to talk about than she thought, he was much smarter than he let on and they often found themselves studying together.

In a way, she considered Nathan to be her first real boyfriend, as she learnt more about relationships with him than she ever did with Mark. It no longer felt awkward or forced, she actually _wanted_ to spend time with Nathan, go on dates, hold hands, kiss him. She was not afraid to hold Nate in more intimate embraces, becoming bolder in her exploration of the human anatomy.

Nate was not her first kiss, but he was the first one that meant something. After a long night of discussing secrets and boys, her friend had taken it upon herself to teach her two, inexperienced, friends how to properly suck face. She protested at the time but when it finally came down to business she sent a silent thank you for the lessons, especially after his enthusiastic and positive response.

Their relationship came to a not so respectable ending after 7 solid months of dating. When the relationship began, she had admitted to him that sex was almost guaranteed to be off the table. She was 16 and didn't feel ready to commit her virginity on a sexually charged whim. Besides, she needed love to make that step and despite 6 great months, she couldn't say she was in love with him, or willing to give him such a big part of herself. Her overtly sexual friend had told her that virginity was not as big of a deal as she thought it would be, but then again she never really thought it was a big deal to start with. She knows she lost her virginity last year, and while she had absolutely no judgements, she didn't want some casual fling. She wanted the real deal.

She wanted to be in love.

So when Nate started to become a little bit more petulant every time she removed his hand from her inner thigh, she began to think about splitting from a quickly turning relationship. Despite their long running relationship, she didn't feel at all put out by the idea of breaking up. Sure, she was sad that she would probably lose a good friendship and make out partner, but she thought she'd feel… More. More sadness over her dying relationship, an overwhelming urge to want to save what they had. Instead it felt like she was splitting from a friends with benefits agreement, and that confused her more than anything.

As she suspected, Nate was a more than a little bitter about their break up, becoming angry rather than sad. He did quite a bit of yelling before storming out, yelling 'cock tease' over his shoulder as he went. Dejectedly, she took note of the fact that she wasn't surprised in the slightest.

Tom is the last on the list. Junior year to present.

It was inevitable really. The Cheerleader and the Quarterback. Typical high school romance. They had seen each other around a lot, the cheerleaders and footballers often hanging in the same circles. She had talked to him on occasion, was talked to about him on others. While she was still dating Nathan, it was let slip that Tom had a crush on her. She's never been one to cheat, and let the knowledge slip to the back of her mind. That was until a 'returning to school' party held at one of the popular girls' houses brought it rushing forward during an ill-advised game of spin the bottle. The kiss ignited a spark she hadn't felt for the others, though that may or may not have been the alcohol.

A few days later came an awkward looking Tom with a bunch of flowers and an invite to dinner that Friday night. She had no reason to say no. He was another step up from Nathan, much the same but much sweeter. He was a little bit taller, and his role as a footballer player giving him a bulkier upper body and what she would always describe to others as 'rippling abs'. He wasn't as smart but he still held his own, as per the educational requirements of participating in high level school sports. His lack of smarts was more than made up for by his charm. He would open doors for her, pull out her chair, get her lunch and even sometimes give her little gifts. She loved his good morning and good night texts, finding them absolutely precious and would often gush over them with her girlfriends the next day.

The brown hair was becoming a pattern.

Her parents had more than liked the boy, his future business career at his father's firm made him a charming and stable young man for their little Chlo-Bear. They would invite him over for dinner every other week, most of the night spent listening to her father and Tom discuss business. As the local Diner owner, her Dad valued a hardworking, independent business man that was much like himself.

It was the start of senior year and they had been together for just under a year. She was more than excited because not only would she be seeing the school again, but she would be seeing Tom for the first time in months. He had gone to intern at his Dad's company for the summer, the LA division and was returning in the late hours the night before starting back. She had yet to see him and could barely contain her glee at the idea of seeing her boyfriend again.

So here she was. Standing in her typical school, waiting for the typical boyfriend that matched her typical, All-American girl lifestyle. Her life was a stereotype, a movie, a classical trope overdone in films.

Because her life was perfect. You could almost plot it on a graph from now until the end. High School sweethearts marry, have 2.5 children, white picket fences. Dying at the age of 92 hands clasped together and smiles on their face.

Chloe Beale's life was coveted, everything she needed it to be, and everything she ever wanted.

Too bad the new transfer kid was everything but typical.

 _A/N: Please don't forget to review or follow or whatever. Hope you enjoyed this instalment, the next should be up soon._


	2. First Day Jitters

_A/N: Thanks to all those that followed, favourited or reviewed, it means a lot. I'm updating pretty quick at the moment but next week I go back to uni so don't expect everyday updates. More like weekly._

 _Enjoy_

While waiting for her friends, she decided it was time for her favourite sport; people watching. Being the first day back, the emotions on the students' faces were a little more obvious than they would usually be, and more diverse. They skittered from excited to nervous to happy then back to nervous. Usual school jitters. To be honest she was a little excited too. Sure, it was school and she had to show up every day at a ridiculously early time, but she loved the social side of it. To see people you haven't seen all summer, to talk to people you wouldn't usually talk to, it was her bread and butter really.

Her fascination with the people around her had become narrowed down to the few people she spotted here and there with a completely different expression on their face; boredom. Some of the students, despite school having not even officially started, look like they just sat through a five hour lecture on the joys of advanced calculus theory. How could they possibly look so negative on a day like this? Can't they see that another year of opportunities is about to be presented to them? She didn't understand these people, so she watched them more than the others, as if they would magically provide her with the answers she wanted.

"Are you excited for the new year?"

"Shit!" Chloe jumped and turned, surprised by the sudden appearance of her best friend. "Stacie! I thought we talked about the sneaking up on people thing."

"I literally called your name five times on the way over here." Stacie announced with an eye roll. "I don't know how much more warning I could possibly have given you."

Chloe took in Stacie appearance and smiled to herself. The brunette had opted to kick in the new schooling year with the shortest skirt she'd ever seen coupled with a tastefully low cut, short sleeved pink top. Paired with her infamous heels, Chloe can easily say it was one of Stacie's more modest outfits even though it would be a regular person's most racy.

"Nice look, Stace." Chloe laughed a little, eyes twinkling to let Stacie know she was teasing. "That's a lot less boobage than usual, thinking of becoming a nun?"

"Oh hardy ha ha, I forgot how super funny you were." Stacie replied sarcastically before laughing along. She had only returned from her, affectionately dubbed, nerd camp last week, meaning she had spent a lot less time with her friends than she would have liked. While she was gone, it was the teasing and laughing like this that she truly missed. Her friends could be such dumbasses sometimes but that's why she loved them. "Anyway, have you seen Tom yet?

"Not yet." Chloe replied, anticipation intertwined with her words. "It's been so long, and near the end we started Skyping less and less so I feel like I haven't seen him in ages."

"I'm sure he'll be here soon." Stacie placated with a soft hand and a sympathetic voice. "I'm sure when he shows up it will be like BREE!"

Chloe was, once again, startled by Stacie's sudden outburst. She watched as Stacie ran to meet the third member of their 'golden trio', squealing as she practically tackled the blonde into what could only be described as a bear hug.

"Stacie," Aubrey managed to wheeze out. "Stacie, you're squishing me."

"Bree!" Her reply was still excited, but significantly scaled down. She waited for Aubrey's breathing to even back out before continuing. "I feel like I haven't seen you in forever."

Another eye roll was pulled from Chloe at that statement. She knows for a fact they were talking on the phone last night, which Aubrey immediately informs her of.

She was about to walk over and join them when something out the corner of her eye caught her attention. She looked over and could see the shiny object was nothing more than a bead on a bracelet. It was an intricate black band, woven with little silver beads. It was pretty, but it was also quite a dark piece, especially from its spot between similar jet-black bangles. It seemed to suit the girl that was wearing it though.

She was facing away from Chloe, but she could tell from the combat boots, the ripped jeans and blue plaid that this girl was probably a bit of a troublemaker. Even from behind she seemed to portray a standoffish attitude, probably stemming from the spikes she could see protruding from her ear. Gorgeous chocolate locks reached just past her shoulders, and Chloe couldn't help but want to reach out and touch them. It looked soft, like, ridiculously so. She was short, shorter than herself which was quite a feat, so she assumed the girl was a freshman. The schedule and school map clutched firmly in her left hand just another indication of her newbie status. She was about to go introduce herself to the freshman, maybe show her around or ask where she got her bracelet, instead she was stunned when the girl finally turned around.

 _Holy shit_.

Despite her short stature her face was much more mature than any freshman's could, and should, be. High cheekbones, soft lips and an aggressive amount of eyeliner. On anyone else, Chloe probably would have laughed to herself about it, seeing it as a desperate attempt to stand out or perhaps write it off as a simple newbie make up mistake. But it didn't make her look silly, or ignorant of proper styling dos and don'ts, it made her look fierce. Rebellious. A simple statement of 'don't fuck with me unless you want to end up face down on the floor'.

Unlike the panicked and frantic look on the faces of every other freshman she had seen, the brunette easily sat in the boredom category. While the others with a similar expression intrigued her, this girl had her downright baffled. Everyone else in her category were no lower than a junior, and they had more than enough time to acquaint themselves with the inner most workings of the school. She _knew_ she had not seen this girl before, begging the question why she looked so… _disinterested_ in the world around her. This was her first day in a new school. She knew none of her surroundings, or where her classes were, or the people around her, or who her teachers were, yet she looked like she actually couldn't care any less and still be conscious.

The girl turned away and Chloe, for some unknown reason, released a strangled gasp as she lost her view of her prized subject. And with Chloe's good luck, the brunette's head whipped back around at the unexpected noise, quirking her eyebrow at the redhead. Somehow the redhead looked more surprised at their encounter despite, accidently, initiating it. Her jaw opened and closed though no words actually came out.

 _What is happening?_

This does not happen. Well of course it does, all the time in fact. It just never happens to her. Chloe Beale does not stutter, and Chloe Beale does not get nervous in front of people. She's great with people, she fucking rules when it comes to people. She's had people in front of her in this state before, and of course she felt sympathy for them at the time, but good _god_ she did not show them enough. Because this was actually terrifying and she wanted it to end right now.

But the beautiful, scary lady was still staring at her. And her eyebrow was still quirked. Except instead of full blown confusion, and acute resting bitch face, her eyes were twinkling in amusement, mouth twitching at one corner, hinting at the smirk just waiting to come out.

Chloe's cheeks matched her hair.

 _What the actual fuck was happening?_

Before she could actually implode on her own awkwardness, the brunette's back was once again facing her and she was walking away. Chloe snapped her mouth shut in fear that she would engage the girl again, even when knowing the best option was to just let her go.

The girl was barely around the corner when a heavy hand clamped down on her shoulder. Snapped out of her thoughts with another jump scare (like seriously, what was wrong with her friends today?), Chloe faced her newest attacker with a slight glare that quickly transformed into a dazzling smile.

"Tom!" Her voice was going to be raw by the end of the day if this was the amount of screaming she was going to do.

She launched herself at him, arms wrapping tightly around his neck and lips planting firmly on his. When she pulled away to fire about fifty questions at him in one breath, he pulled her back in for another kiss. Unlike her, comparatively, chaste kiss, Tom immediately opened her mouth and began what those around her could only describe as a tongue bath. Not that she usually didn't like a good make out session, but she felt extremely uncomfortable doing so on the front steps of the school where everybody could see them. Not to mention, his newly grown stubble was nothing but sandpaper against her cheeks, probably leaving a red rash on the bottom half of her face. It was weird to her, not remembering any time before now that Tom had stubble. She remembered him once saying that he hated the feeling of stubble, finding it distracting due to its itchiness.

 _What is he doing?_

She gently pushed him away, taking a few seconds to actually get him to disentangle his mouth from hers. He grinned down at her, ignoring her embarrassed look.

"Hey Babe." _Babe?_ "It's been so long, I forgot how beautiful you looked."

"Uh," Chloe was lost for words. This was a… _different_ version of Tom. Then again, two months was a long time apart, especially when he was submerged into a completely new environment. "Yeah, thanks. I missed you."

"Yeah I missed you too, Chloe." Tom's grin had yet to waver. "I was thinking, after school maybe we could BUMPER!"

Honestly, people really needed to stop doing that.

And then he was gone. Running after douche face to participate in an elaborate bro handshake that ended with a hearty chest bump.

Chloe's heart sank. Two months apart and _that_ was the reunion she had been so excited for? She supposed that maybe she was over thinking it, that she was being too quick to judge. After all, this isn't just the first time he's seen her in two months, it's the first time he's seen anyone else as well. Perhaps she was being selfish for demanding he be focused entirely on her just because she was his girlfriend.

"Are you okay?" Aubrey had approached with Stacie just in time to see the exchange and the subsequent blow off. She must say, she's a little bit angry at Tom but also a little confused, having never seen him treat her that way. "That looked a little rough."

"Yeah, no I'm fine." Chloe brushed the hurt aside and faced her friends. "Although, I haven't received a hug from my best friend yet and I gotta say, it stings a little."

Aubrey rolled her eyes, her friends were complete idiots. They had all hung out two days ago and they were both acting like it had been years. She wasn't really complaining, however, because she loved the two goofballs. She opened her arms, inviting the redhead into the hug she had so woefully deprived her of, almost falling over when not only did she end up with arms around her shoulders but also legs around her waist.

Fucking goofballs.

"Get off me, Chloe." Aubrey huffed out.

"As you wish." Chloe laughed while climbing off her friend. "So, you guys ready for senior year?"

She grabbed her friend's elbows before they could reply and started escorting them inside. 'Of course' was Aubrey's sure reply, Stacie going for a less eloquent 'fuck yes'. Chloe probably leaned more towards Stacie's fuck yes side, excited to play out her final year at school.

It was amazing, really, to think that this was her final year at school before she goes off to college. She was looking forward to the typical senior year. Prom, skip day, graduation, her senior yearbook, she could picture it all now. She and Tom were the power couple at school, an almost guaranteed King and Queen. Her dress would be an amazing shade of blue, matching the vest and tie of Tom's otherwise black and white tuxedo. They were going to look incredible, and it was going to be perfect. The entire year was going to be perfect.

She was sure of it.

 _A/N: That's all for now folks. Thanks for reading, reviews more than welcome, in fact they are encouraged._

 _Until next time._


	3. Biology Made Interesting

_A/N: Thanks once again to reviewers and followers and favouriters, you make my day guys._

She hadn't seen Tom again before school started, the boy having wandered off to meet up with the football team. She wasn't hurt, or so she kept telling herself, she was more confused. She didn't know if he was being purposely dismissive or just ignorant of his own inattentiveness. To be honest, neither option made her feel better, but at least one of them she could get over. For now she would just shake it off as boys being boys and maybe talk to him about it when they next see each other at lunch. For now she had school to focus on.

Biology, her worst subject. And it's first period. Damn.

She had never failed biology, in fact she usually gets A's and B's, it just doesn't come as easily to her as her other subjects do. Biology had always taken a lot of effort, but she thought she should be doing at least one of the sciences and Biology was way less maths than Chemistry or Physics. It was made worse by the fact that neither Aubrey nor Stacie are taking the class with her. Aubrey had dropped the sciences in order to steer her classes towards a law degree. _Early preparation is key, Chlo,_ Aubrey's strict voice resounding in her head. She couldn't help but smirk because that line was just so typically Bree. Stacie on the other hand, being the genius she is, is taking almost all AP classes for senior year, including Biology.

So she was by herself.

Except not quite, because when that thought filtered through her head, the seat next to her was pulled out and a body plopped itself down. Well of course it had to be her, miss short, brunette and beautiful. Looking around, she could see that the other girl didn't have much of a choice. The final bell had just rang and the entire class was full up, leaving the spot beside her as the only available one.

She hadn't noticed last time, but as the stranger pulled her stuff out of her black, well-loved messenger bag, Chloe could see that she had the nicest, stormy blue eyes she had ever encountered. They were amazing, a perfect swirl of blue and grey that seemed so unique to her. While hers were a reflection of the brightest summer sky, this girl's was an echo of the deepest ocean. They were dark and mysterious, like even her genes had decided that this girl was supposed to look rebellious as fuck since birth.

"You stare a lot, you know."

The girl had finally spoken and she sounded nothing like Chloe had expected. While Chloe had expected nothing but derision, or anger, or maybe even condescension, her voice held nothing of the sort. If anything she would say the girl sounded amused, which Chloe found strange. Then again, this girl had just called her out for staring at her without actually looking up from the desk so she guessed that strange was going to be the tune of the day.

"I'm sorry." Chloe was actually really proud of that, even though she wasn't sure why she was apologising. She was more just thankful that she had managed to form words properly this time, and reply within a reasonable amount of time. "It's just that, you're really good looking."

 _Really good looking._

 _Really good looking?_

Okay, she was no longer proud of herself. In fact she would rather have been left floundering again with her mouth open than to have spewed out that group of words. 'You're really good looking', when has she ever even said that sequence of words before? Dammit, what was up with this girl?

"Really good looking?" The hint of amusement had returned full-force, coupled with a slight laugh. One eyebrow had once again risen, the effortlessness of the action leading Chloe to believe it was a familiar gesture for the girl. It was almost as if she didn't even know she was doing it anymore.

"Y… Yeah." Chloe stuttered out in return, brain still being on holiday. "Yeah, you know, just like, ridiculously good… looking." She trailed off at the end because oh my god, she was going to go jump off of something.

The girl actually laughed out loud at that one. "Wow, thanks Zoolander, you're not too bad yourself. I put a lot of effort into my appearance, clearly. Well, that's when I'm not teaching at my centre for kids who can't read good, and want to do other stuff good too."

She was joking, the girl was joking with her. The dark girl with scary ear spikes and plaid was making a joke. About what was probably the goofiest comedy she could think of. This was not right at all.

Goth girls don't make jokes.

Popular, friendly, personable Chloe Beale does not struggle with talking to a person. _Any_ person. No matter how hot they were.

 _Wait, what?_

She's still looking at her, and she needed to talk back lest she convince this girl that Barden High was full of weirdos. "I'm Chloe Beale."

"Beca Mitchell." She replied with a little wave before the teacher finally shushed the class to begin the lesson.

They didn't talk through the class though it was barely even more than an introduction to the course. Chloe had spent most of it psyching herself up to talk to Beca again, maybe find out her schedule and see if they had anymore classes together. It seemed to her that the bell had just rung when the brunette essentially bolted from the class, giving her no time to give her practiced speech.

It was really good too.

At least in comparison to the dribble she had been displaying to the girl since they met. As she walked to English she asked herself why she even cared what the girl thought of her. Maybe because it was the first person to make her make a complete fool out of herself, man, woman or otherwise. She had never, _ever_ had to put this much effort into just talking to someone. The girl, _Beca_ , made her nervous. She had no idea why but she made Chloe nervous, unsure of herself. She had always thought that her popularity was a side effect of her people skills. She was nice to people but it's not like she wanted everyone to like her. To praise her. That just came along with who she was.

But there was just this overwhelming sense of want with Beca. She wanted her to like her, she wanted her to pay attention to her. She hadn't felt this way before, not with Aubrey, not with Stacie, Mark, Nathan, and certainly not Tom. She had never wanted to get to know someone more, to just know what they were thinking. It was hard for Chloe, because all of this usually came so easy.

Beca was an enigma.

At least she had a name now, no longer having to refer to her as that mysterious chick with the ear spikes. Oh, Aubrey was just going to love her. From her scuffed up Chucks to her black nail polish, she was everything Aubrey feared. Despite Aubrey being her best friend, she was interested to see how they would get along. Well, clearly they wouldn't, but she felt like Beca's sarcastic teasing and smirking would probably push every single one of the blonde's buttons. And she felt that Aubrey's strict lifestyle and generally abrasive nature would give Beca so much bait. It would be a fascinating study really.

If she could have a proper conversation with her first for Christ's sake.

Which would not be happening in her next class so it seemed. The girl from her thoughts was sitting at one of the desks, but she was already surrounded by two brunettes. She knew they were good guys, both of them were a part of the school's AV club and had managed three solid years of keeping their noses clean. Not popular, but people knew who they were. Benji was a little dweebier than Jesse, but they were both kind of goofy and quite friendly. She had actually always considered Jesse to be the nerdier, male version of herself.

She didn't have long to look as she found a seat away from the gang of brunettes and focussed her attention to the front of the class.

Just like in Biology, Beca had left within seconds, Chloe having no chance to talk to her. She would be lying if she said she wasn't disappointed. Her disappointment grew when she saw that Beca wasn't in her next two classes. Still, that meant it was lunch time and she could be easily distracted by Tom and her best friends.

They were all sitting at their usual table when she strolled in, her own lunch set out between Tom and Aubrey. Stacie was sitting next to the blonde and they were idly chatting away while Tom was laughing with the football guys sitting with them. Donald and Unicycle she really didn't mind, but she really could do without Bumper. From the moment she met him she knew she was not going to like him. He started by introducing himself as Bumper and saying that it was 'nice to make the acquaintance of the fabulous fresh meat booty on campus'. Turns out that was him being tame.

"Chloe!" Tom was the first one to see her. After this morning, she was pleasantly surprised when he stood up to give her a quick hug before pulling her seat out for her. This was the Tom she knew, and it proved to her that his earlier behaviour was nothing more than the excitement of the first school day. "We saved you a seat. How were your classes?"

"They were good," Chloe replied, taking a bite out of her apple. "Except I have Mr. Morgan so it's going to be a struggle to stay awake in History now."

He laughed at her pain before telling her about his day, leaving her to just eat and listen. She could feel Aubrey's and Stacie's eyes boring into the side of her head, so when Tom had finished and turned back to the guys, she turned her attention to her own best friends.

"So?" Chloe questioned, reading the looks on her friends' faces and knowing they were busting to get her opinion on something. "Are you going to tell me or am I going to have to guess?"

"Well, there's this new girl." Stacie spoke up first, much to Aubrey's annoyance. "And I think she's hot, like, my first girl of the year hot. Aubrey, on the other hand, with her usually sunny disposition said that the girl was nothing but a hobbit with too much eyeliner and ear monstrosities and that I could do better. What do you think?"

Chloe was frozen. She had no idea why but the thought of her friends already knowing or meeting Beca had never crossed her mind. Which was stupid really, because a transfer student was bound to attract quite a bit of attention. Of course they'd noticed her, and of course Stacie had put Beca on her hit list. Stacie had never really defined her sexuality and no one really asked her to. Stacie was never one to do relationships, aiming more for casual sex with anyone she deemed good enough, man, woman or otherwise. It was never a problem because everyone she hooked up with was aware of Stacie's reputation, never expecting more from her after their moment of passion. Thinking of it now Beca _would_ be Stacie's type, sexy and mysterious with a little bit of attitude.

Perfect.

It made Chloe feel uneasy and she had no idea why. It's not like she's cared who Stacie slept with before. It's not like she's _jealous_ or something. She's just… Okay she has no idea what she was, but it didn't matter right now. She would just shrug it off as the excitement of a new student and go on with her original plan to befriend the girl. First by getting her friends on board.

"Oh you mean Beca?" Chloe tried to stay nonchalant but the excitement was evident in her voice.

"Wait you know her?" Stacie's excitement rivalling her own. "And her name is Beca? Damn that's hot."

"Yeah I sit next to her in Biology and she's in my English class."

"Well, what's she like?" Stacie asked with a grin, happy to have someone on the inside.

"I didn't really get a chance to talk to her, honestly." Chloe sighed remembering both her faux pas and Beca's impression of Usain Bolt at the end of her classes.

Stacie gasped at that knowledge. "You? Miss Chloe Elizabeth Beale didn't 'get the chance to talk to her?' What happened, you're usually all over it when it comes to people? And you sat next to her for an entire period, you're telling me that in that time you didn't talk to her? Find out anything about her at all? Are you sick?"

"Alright calm down there, Hunter." Chloe laughed a little at Stacie's dramatics. "I spoke to her for all of two seconds and in that time I learnt nothing that could possibly help you bang her. You'll have to do this one by yourself. That is, unless you've lost your touch?"

Stacie looked offended at that assumption. The conversation naturally drifted away from Beca, but Chloe's mind did not. Thinking about it, Chloe scanned the hall to see the brunette had settled herself in with Jesse and Benji, which wasn't overly surprising considering she could hear them talking throughout the English lesson. She knew the girl had clicked with the boys and knew that she would fit in well with the group of oddballs. She knew for a fact that the other girl at the table was Emily, Benji's girlfriend, and the sweetest person she had probably ever meet. She remembers hearing the teen actually genuinely use the phrase 'oh my stars'. She was pretty sure Emily and Benji were made for each other.

During her 'quick' scan of their table, her eyes accidently locked onto blue. Having gotten some experience at this point, she smiled politely at Beca, thankful when she got a smile back. It meant she hadn't convinced Beca that she was a complete weirdo. She was surprised when the brunette dramatically turned around to look behind herself, she actually laughed out loud when she turned back sporting an impressive attempt at 'blue steel'.

The others on the table looked to her in question at the outburst but she just shook them off. Beca had sent a smirk her way when she laughed before returning to the conversation on her own table which seem to be centred around the cuteness factor of Furbies vs their obvious creepiness.

What a weird fucking day.

 _A/N: Regular second authors note, please don't forget to review and tell me what you think, I do enjoy hearing from you. Also, I shall repeat that I know basically nothing about the American schooling system so this is based mostly off my own which is New Zealand. I have a feeling they are completely different but we'll see I guess._

 _Also, if you're wondering, I did just get back from seeing Zoolander 2 and it was everything I had dreamed it would be and more._


	4. Raindrops on Roses

Chloe was annoyed.

Her school day was almost over and she had yet to _really_ talk to Beca.

 _All fucking week._

They would sit together in Biology, they would see each other in English and in the hallways, yet she had shown very little interest in Chloe at all. Chloe didn't know what to do with that information. Like, at all. This was something she had never encountered before and it was mind boggling. The more she struggled to interact with Beca the more she realised why she couldn't.

She was _chasing_ Beca for her attention, practically begging for it, and this was not how any of her interactions started. From Aubrey and Stacie to Tom, they had all approached her, struck up a conversation with her. Her popularity had meant that she was the one to be approached by others, not the other way around. People would come to her in hopes to gain the redhead's favour, and everyone knew this.

Everyone knew that Chloe Beale did not chase.

Mostly because she had never needed to, not in at least 13 years. Yet Beca seemed to be completely disinterested in her. Well, not completely. But Chloe did not consider polite smiles and high school jock nods in the hallway to be a sign of fascination, especially in comparison to the new stock of freshmen that had arrived.

Once again Chloe found herself at the receiving end of a multitude of stares. Lustful ones from most of the boys and jealousy or awe from the girls. Not to toot her own horn but it seemed to have happened the last couple of years now so she was used to it. Her beauty and friendliness easily attracted the attention of the school's newest members as they began to uncover the pros and cons of their newly discovered, puberty-induced hormones. She would ignore the lust and the resentment and smile at the admiration, no need to scare the students more than the school and teachers already do.

Chloe had tried not to take Beca's detachment to heart as it seemed like the girl did not take well to new people. She avoided other people like the plague, with the exception of Jesse, Benji and Emily. She didn't know what it was about the misfits that the brunette was attracted to, but she had seen them at lunch and although Beca still looked a little reserved, a fond smile would pull gently at her lips. Chloe's pretty sure that if it weren't for her staring at Beca's face at every opportunity she wouldn't have noticed it either.

No, to all else Beca Mitchell was a badass. She was the person your mother would warn you about when you first leave for school. The bad influence, the corrupter, the girl that was five foot nothing and yet still looked like she could drop Dwayne Johnson on his ass at a moment's notice. A fact solidified during the girl's infamous meeting with school jackass Bumper Allen.

Now, Chloe wasn't there and Stacie had the tendency to be more theatrical than an episode of Glee, but her story had been corroborated by several of her less melodramatic friends. Apparently Bumper had taken to it upon himself to welcome the transfer student to Barden High with an inconspicuous, very eloquent call of 'look, I even got the dykes falling for me', before sticking his foot out to trip the shorter woman.

In terms of storytelling, all of the people agreed that the brunette was the epitome of finesse as she gracefully leaped over Bumper's protruding leg, with which he had very maturely hoped to trip her over with, and swung her arm down from her phone to connect solidly with Bumper's family jewels. Apparently Beca didn't even miss a step as she continued on, headphones still in place over her ears and both hands had returned to her phone.

One rumour was that she didn't even lift her eyes away from her phone during the entire confrontation. Chloe couldn't believe that for a second.

Another rumour was that Bumper literally whimpered the entire time it took to carry him to the nurse's office. Chloe believed that one in a heartbeat.

Many rumours spread around about the girl after that, ranging from plausible to outrageous. However, no matter how ridiculous it was, the story that Beca was raised by the Russian government to be a secret assassin against America's highest ranking officials sure was entertaining. No matter how questionable the stories became, one thing was cemented in everyone's minds after the stand-off.

Beca Mitchell was not a person to be messed with.

And yet here Chloe was, Barden High's Angel, trying to get the attention of the newly discovered badass. Trying being the operative word, because currently Chloe felt like she couldn't try anything else. Not that she had tried much mind you, unless awkward stuttering counted but she really didn't think it did.

She was at the end of her tether. She couldn't help the mixed feelings of shame and frustration bubbling through her chest as she walked towards her car. It was Friday which meant Aubrey had debate team practice and Stacie had a college-prep Chemistry course, despite it only literally being the first Friday of the term.

 _Nerds._

"No, it's fine." She knew that voice. A week of (totally not) stalking made her sensitive to that particular tone. It was the same level of heavy sarcasm as always but had a hint of sadness melded into it. It pulled at Chloe's heart, like it did when anyone was upset. For an optimist like Chloe, sadness wasn't something she liked to see in others. It was a definite weak point of hers.

The voice originated from just a little ahead of her, the girl out of sight around the corner of the brick veneer of the school's front gate. Chloe wasn't spying. Really, she wasn't. She was just… In the same vicinity of a girl who happened to be having a conversation with someone else. So what if the girl didn't know she was there, still didn't make it spying.

"No, no. Really, wouldn't want to inconvenience you. It's not like I'm a priority, right? Besides, it's not like I'm not used to being disappointed by you, it's all you do." Chloe heard the distinct sound of a phone's disconnecting tone, knowing now that whoever the brunette was arguing with was no longer going to be a distraction. She waited another second before finally rounding the corner, coming to a halt when she saw Beca.

She looked stressed. No, not stressed. She just looked done. Like she was annoyed at someone but also resigned, like she didn't know why she was annoyed in the first place because the mysterious caller had clearly done the same thing before. Most importantly, a cigarette dangled from betwixt two slender fingers. She watched as the brunette let out a long sigh, smoke billowing out of her mouth from the initial drag she had taken before Chloe had stumbled upon her. She watched in fascination as she saw the tension drain out of Beca's shoulders, muscles relaxing as the nicotine flooded her system. The tenseness of her muscles seemed to leak out of her and she looked more like the Beca she had seen all week. The one that didn't seem to give a fuck about anything.

"Beale," Beca's voice had also changed, moving away from sarcastic distain and moving closer towards the cool, playful tone she had become used to. Yet, despite Beca's best efforts, the strain of the obviously painful conversation was still rearing its ugly head. "What are you doing here on such a beautiful Friday like this? Surely you would have escaped this hellhole the second you heard the bell ring like every other poor soul."

Beca's arm had swung out, gesturing to the clouds that had painted the sky in ominous shades of black and grey. The only thing Chloe could really think was that she had never met someone that spoke almost completely in sarcasm. However, her second thought led her to the realisation that her worry over the brunette's mental state left her mind relatively clear for conversation.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's going to start bucketing down any minute now." Score one to Chloe. "Do you drive?"

"I do usually yeah." Chloe could tell from the smirk on her face that she was a little surprised that she had formed a proper response. A full conversation would be new territory for both of them. "But my asshole father's car broke down so he took mine this morning before I woke up with the promise that he would pick me up. And what a shocker, he bailed."

"You don't like your father?" The question was blurted out, because Chloe was a smart girl and could connect the dots. Beca was upset about her dad not coming to pick her up. The phone call also made it very clear that this kind of neglect was frequent. The thought hollowed out Chloe's chest. Growing up in a loving and supporting family made it hard for her to understand Beca's situation. How could a parent repeatedly shun their child? What could be so important that Mr. Mitchell would put it above his own family? No, she didn't understand it at all.

"How could you tell?" Sarcasm again, of course.

"I don't know, it was really hard to tell. I mean, I had to read between the lines a bit because you were _super_ subtle about it." Oh shit, now _she_ was doing it.

She worried for a second that it might have been too much, that Beca might have taken offense at Chloe making light of her less than fantastic family situation. She was put at ease when Beca raised an impressed eyebrow at her, a surprised laugh falling out of her lips before she could stop it.

"Wow, Beale." Her smirk was as wide as ever as her eyes raked over Chloe's form in a teasing manner. "I didn't know you had it in you. That or I'm starting to rub off on you which probably isn't a good thing. Wouldn't want to be chased out of town in my first week for corrupting Barden's little princess."

"Hey, I might look like a princess but I'm really a knight." Chloe put her hands on her hips, puffing her chest up with pride as she held her head high. She immediately deflated when Beca laughed in response.

"Oh my god, no." Beca responded between breaths. "Beale no. No, you look like a fucking puppy." Her laughter increased as Chloe's face fell into a pout, accented with the biggest puppy dog eyes Beca had ever seen. "Oh wow, yeah no, just _so_ tough."

"Don't mock me." Pout still firmly in place, Chloe crossed her arms petulantly, willing to continue the façade if it meant Beca would keep laughing. "I _am_ tough."

It had the desired effect as Beca almost doubled over she was laughing so hard. Despite her mean look, Beca actually looked fucking adorable when she laughed. Like when a tiny kitten would watch you warily for the first couple of minutes before realising you weren't a threat and becoming the most playful little thing ever.

"Of course, Beale." Her laughter finally calming down following a long intake from her cigarette. "Whatever you say."

"Smoking kills, you know." She couldn't help herself really. Her grandfather had died of lung cancer before she was born so her father was pretty insistent about his non-smoking policy. That added with the rather graphic anti-smoking health lessons she had received since middle school made it a reflex to question anyone breathing through a deathstick.

"Yeah, and so does bacon." Was her serious reply. Though despite her dismal line, she had already moved to stomp out her half smoked cigarette. "So if I have the choice to live without bacon to the age of 92 or spend my entire life eating bacon yet die at 65, I don't know about you but I'm not seeing my 66th birthday."

She considered the logic for a second, and it did sound tempting, but only when the scenario was about bacon. Still, the feeling was the same for Beca and she supposed she could live with that reasoning. Why argue about her source of happiness when there was much more they could be talking about. Speaking of…

"So, how exactly are you getting home?"

Beca looked surprised, looking like she actually hadn't considered the question. She looked to the sky and sighed. Joking aside, it did look ready to start pouring any second, and without any idea of the bus schedules around the area, there was only really one viable option left.

"Well, I guess now is as good a time as any to take up walking." Despite her best efforts, Beca couldn't hide her disgust at the thought of doing exercise outside of gym class.

"It doesn't have to be." Chloe interjected hopefully. She didn't expect Beca to look so shocked by the offer, it seemed like the next naturally step in the conversation. What was she supposed to do, go to her car and leave Beca to walk home alone in the rain? Please. "I can take you."

"No." It was a little sharp, but Chloe knew it was mostly just surprise. "No, you don't have to do that. Honestly, Chloe, it's fine."

She was shocked by the use of her first name, not remembering the last time Beca had actually said it. "Well, where do you live?"

"Over on Benton Drive."

"Beca!" The loudness of her voice even startled her. "That's like a 20 minute car ride and like an hour on foot. Are you kidding me? I'm not letting you walk that far in the rain. You are getting in my car and that's the last I'm hearing of it, got it?"

"Yes Ma'am." Beca's eyes were wide, obviously a little flabbergasted by the sudden change from puppy to drill sergeant. Turns out being Aubrey's friend had some perks.

Chloe couldn't resist smirking at the display. "Now, who said I wasn't tough again?"

 _A/N: Thanks for reading y'all. Don't forget to review, it would make me happy. I have started back at Uni so updates will probably once every one or two weeks. Thanks for reading._


	5. The Batman Analogy

_A/N: Hello my children. Yes another chapter, Uni is making updating difficult. I'm also planning a series of one shots, the first of which is already out if you wanted to have a look._

5 minutes into the ride and they hadn't actually done any talking.

The car wasn't really a thrilling point of conversation and that was mostly Chloe's fault. While she liked her car and enjoyed the freedom that came with it, she didn't really have much of an interest in it or any other for that matter. While Beca seemed impressed, asking questions involving words like 'pistons', 'compression' and 'rebound', Chloe had to admit her cluelessness about mechanics. Put gas in, car goes, that's all she ever needs to know.

With that conversation struck down before it could even start, the two sat in mutual silence. Neither really knew what to say but also neither felt a real need to. Beca was the most baffled by this. As a rule she had never really been comfortable with people, even her family caused her certain levels of unease. But Chloe seemed fine. Which was unexpected because she had the kind of personality that should set Beca on edge.

She was nice, to start with. Beca hated nice people because they always seemed so ridiculously fake. But Chloe's niceness was genuine, a caricature of a Disney princess carved into a real human being. Hell, she wouldn't be surprised if a pair of bluebirds followed her around constantly, just waiting for her to whistle just once so they could flock to her. She was also beautiful. Which, for Beca, usually meant that person was a complete asshole. Whether that was true or if her old school was just filled to the brim with the worst kind of people, she wasn't actually sure. All she could go off of was personal experience and it led her to believe that people like Chloe were not kind to people like Beca. But Chloe's beauty somehow did not stop her from being friendly. Well, friendly when she wasn't just staring at her in class.

Which is something she would never understand. Why someone like Chloe Beale would ever pay attention to her is a mystery that she has spent the last week trying to solve. She was sure that almost everyone else in the school would agree with her on the fact that Chloe should not really be paying any attention to Beca. Most of them would probably even argue that Beca had suffered from a stroke or was just completely delusional to think the redhead had any interest in her.

However, after the first two days of sideways glances, Beca could no longer deny that Chloe was not listening to their biology teacher at all. Originally Beca had thought she had something on her face, self-consciously rubbing the cheek closest to the other girl, expecting to feel food or a pimple or _something_ that could explain what was happening. Fortunately, or unfortunately, her cheek was unblemished and she was left to sit uncomfortably as a near stranger wore a hole into the side of her face. By Thursday she was used to the staring, finding it best to block her out because Chloe seemed stuck between interested enough to look but not interested enough to actually say anything.

Things seemed to be going from zero to a hundred now though as she was being personally chauffeured home in Chloe's Toyota. Chloe might not have thought her car was much but it was a newer model Camry and the interior looked like it was worth more than her house. She was, however, slightly disappointed that the car wasn't some shade of pink. Not because Beca loved the bright colour but because that's what she had always pictured Chloe driving. A 'vagina on wheels', as her uncle would say. Still, this was upper class and sophisticated, which almost seemed to suit her much better than what she had imagined for the redhead.

In saying that the car was bright red so it's not like she was that far away from the truth.

"You shout it out, but I can't hear a word you say." After 10 minutes of near silence, Beca's soft voice had successful startled Chloe. She didn't let it show, however, turning slightly to look at the brunette who had her gaze solidly set on the outside scenery.

Chloe watched her, carefully, she was still driving, as her smooth alto drifted through the car for the rest of the verse. Her voice was beautiful despite its almost whispered level. It was obvious that Beca wasn't even aware she had started singing, which made the silkiness of her voice even more endearing because it was clearly taking the brunette no effort to produce.

As the chorus drew near, Chloe couldn't help the feeling welling in her chest any longer, finally joining in, much to Beca's surprise.

 _I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose  
Fire away, fire away  
Ricochet, you take your aim  
Fire away, fire away  
You shoot me down but I won't fall  
I am titanium  
You shoot me down but I won't fall  
I am titanium_

If Chloe had been surprised by the brunette's voice before, she was completely in love with the sound now. Despite being initially startled by the extra voice, the brunette had shrugged it off quickly, gaining more and more confidence as their voices fell into harmonious step with one another. Their voices danced together, spilling out to fill in all the corners of the car and the enraptured girls within. They became stuck in a trance, connecting in a world far away from everyone else.

As the last few notes of the song died out, neither Chloe nor Beca could wipe the grins off their faces. A couple more seconds and they both started to laugh though neither were really sure why. It just felt like a tension had lifted from their shoulders and any of the initial awkwardness had flooded out of their bodies.

"You know David Guetta?" Beca finally asked even though the answer was more than obvious by this point.

"Have I been living under a rock? Of course." Beca rolled her eyes good naturedly at Chloe's sarcasm. "That song is my jam."

Beca looked a little confused so Chloe took advantage of the red light to lean over into her personal space. Keeping her voice low, she whispered, "My lady jam."

Beca no longer looked confused.

After seeing a flash of lust roll through her eyes, Beca's eyes widened comically while her jaw dropped open in surprise as the words finally registered in her brain. While the badass Beca Mitchell will forever deny it, a tiny squeak escaped her as her head snapped back only to collide with the glass panel of the passenger's side window. Chloe laughed at the brunette, barely hearing her mumble of 'dude, no' as she concentrated on the road again.

"Oh my god, Becs." Chloe finally continued once Beca's pout had turned into a scowl and crossed arms at Chloe's peel of laughter. "We only just formally met and you're trying to break my car. Gotta say, not exactly a step in the right direction."

"Oh, we have nicknames now?" One Beca's eyebrows shot up but a teasing smirk softened the words. "Gotta say, Beale, not exactly a step in the right direction."

"You're really mocking me right now?" Chloe replied, her own smirk appearing to hide the fact that she was ready to melt into a puddle at the other girl's cuteness. "That's not very nice, _Becs_. How is this friendship going to work if you're just going to make fun of me the whole time?"

"And now we're friends?" Beca fake gasps, hand covering her heart as she hyped up the dramatics. "Well jinkies, Daphne, this sure is a mystery."

Chloe couldn't stop laughing even if she tried. Beca Mitchell seemed so intimidating the entire week they had been science partners. In 15 minutes she had gone from a badass to a complete and utter goofball. How she kept this side of her personality hidden from the school was beyond her. Despite her initial intrigue being due to Beca's mysterious and broody nature, this goofy fun side she was seeing she found to be a lot more interesting. Mostly because she could tell that it was a side of herself that she didn't show to many others. Maybe Jesse and Benji and Emily had seen it, but something tells her that not many people were privy to this version of the brunette.

"I didn't know you were such a nerd." Chloe continued to tease, knowing it was working when Beca's cheeks flushed. "Wow, I can't believe I actually invited you into my car. Am I going to get out and find it has turned into the Bat Mobile sometime during the drive?"

"Hey," Beca interrupted, her face dropping to imitate some semblance of seriousness. "You know as well as I do that, joking aside, that would actually be really fucking cool. Then you'd own the Bat Mobile and we could totally go around fighting crime together. You would make a great Robin."

"Hey, why am I Robin? Why can't I be Batman?"

"Seriously?" Beca's eyes racked over her body, eyebrow raised as if to ask 'are youkidding me?' "Batman is dark and brooding. You, on the other hand, I'm pretty sure you actually vomit rainbows. I, on the other hand, am awesome and pessimistic and enigmatic. I _am_ Batman. You can be my trusty and faithful side kick. Plus, you know you'd look super hot in those tights."

Chloe couldn't stop her stomach flipping or her cheeks from enflaming as the brunette's eyes slyly ran over her body. The lust was clear from the smoldering look and the way the other girl bit her lip, as if to hold not just her tongue but her whole body back from reaching for the redhead. If Chloe didn't know any better she would have identified the look on Beca's face as desire. The same kind that seemed to be swirling around in her stomach. The same kind she felt when she looked at Tom except stronger, more urgent. When she looked at Tom she felt familiarity, contentment. Tom felt like where she should be, where she was _expected_ to be. By herself, her family, her friends and even her fellow school mates. It's like they all knew she was supposed to be with Tom. And she had never felt anything stronger, or anything that challenged her feelings for Tom.

Well, she hadn't until right now.

Chloe's foot slammed on the break as that thought came hurdling into her consciousness. Luckily for Chloe, she had come to her epiphany right in front of Beca's house, leaving the brunette none the wiser.

Chloe barely paid attention as the brunette got out of the car. She didn't notice when the girl got out and stepped into the rain, thanking the ginger for the ride as she went. Chloe would remember later that the girl had made a sarcastic comment about the fact that she would have been saturated had she had to walk home before finally shutting door and heading into the, slightly run down, house. As she drove all but two minutes down the street to her own house, Chloe was having an internal panic attack. Because if her calculations were correct, she just had a thought that admitted that she had no real romantic feelings for Tom. She just thought that she was with him out of some kind of obligation due to their popular status. And maybe even more important than that,

She just thought about her homosexual attraction to a girl that quoted Scooby Doo and thought she would make a fantastic Batman at five foot two.

 _A/N: Congrats on making it this for, much applause for you. Don't forget to review if you have the time, it would mean much love guys. Until next time._


	6. Comparisons

Chloe decided when she got home that her crazy feelings were nothing more than an overreaction to finally having a conversation with the girl that previously had her so tongue-tied. Beca was different, and Chloe finds that intriguing. And intrigue feels a lot like butterflies and attraction, right? Yes, yes it does. There's no way it can possibly mean anything else and she's sure Tom would agree. Not that she would ever tell him.

But that doesn't mean she can't still get to know the girl.

Turns out actually talking to Beca was the key to getting to know her better. Who would have guessed? One week later and the two girls were a lot closer than she would have predicted from the resident badass. While it wasn't weird for Chloe to share personal information with near strangers, she could see moments where Beca would recoil in the middle of a sentence and shrink into herself. It was as if she suddenly remembered that she had only met the ginger two weeks ago, slipping back into the sarcastic pain in the ass and subtly dodging away from the intimate question. Chloe knew she had a disarming personality, her bubbliness and relentless optimism seemed to make people a lot more trusting than they would under normal circumstances.

Their budding friendship had yet to leave the classroom however, much to Chloe's annoyance. Multiple invitations to join her at lunch or to hang out after school had been swiftly shut down by the brunette, excuses like 'I've already got plans' and 'I'm busy' falling easily from her lips.

Honestly? Chloe was getting a little frustrated with it all. There was still so much left to learn about Beca and she just wanted to learn it outside the walls of Miss Henderson's Biology classroom. To talk to her about herself rather than the reproductive cycle of the common bullfrog. Was she seriously asking for too much here? Would being her friend really be that bad?

She hated this.

"You hate what?"

Shit, did she say that out loud?

"Well, Beale? What is it that you hate so much?" Beca asked as she mockingly searched around them for what could have possibly caused Chloe's distasteful muttering. "Is it me? Biology? Nazi blondes with sticks up there asses? Because I think she has Chem right now so if you want to go destroy her with all that hate you seem to have built up inside I would start there."

"Beca!" Chloe stage whispered at the girl with wide eyes. "That is my best friend you're talking about, don't be mean."

"She told me my ear monstrosities were going to come to life and destroy the school if I let them." Beca replied deadpan.

"She can be a bit dramatic sometimes." Chloe defended, although it was weak in her own ears.

"That was literally the first thing she ever said to me." Beca said, her face still stoic.

"She's opinionated?" Even Chloe could tell she'd lost at this point yet something inside her was still pushing her to stand up for the blonde.

"I wasn't even talking to her. I was literally just waking past her in the hallway and she stopped me to tell me that." Beca's face finally broke into a grin as she watched the ginger's fall into a frown as she thought of a way to justify her friend's actions. "Beale, it's fine. I'm sure blondie has a good side somewhere deep down inside. Really… really deep…"

"Okay new topic before I have to kick you in the shins." Chloe teased, obviously unwilling to follow through on her threat though Beca didn't need to know that.

"Fine." Beca agrees though not without a poorly hidden eye roll. "So how about that mitochondria, huh?"

"Really, Becs?" Chloe giggles, covering her mouth when the teacher turns around and offers her a glare before going back to the board. "Mitochondria? How sexy."

"What? They really know how to work it." Beca replies with a smirk and a wink.

"You're actually ridiculous." Chloe laughs. She panics for a second that she was too loud before realising that the class was packing up for the day. She really must thank Beca because she never remembers biology moving this quickly last year. "Did you just make a biology joke?"

"What do you think?" Beca questions as she too starts shoving her things into her satchel. "Did I _cell_ you on them?"

"Oh my god please stop." She finally said after letting out a surprised bark of laughter. "I mean, I'd join in but I think I'm too far behind on my work to ever keep up with you. I would rather not shame myself by even trying."

Chloe wasn't expecting Beca's face to drop but for some reason it does. In fact, she looks worried and Chloe's more than a little surprised at the change of mood.

"You're failing bio?"

"Well, I mean… not _failing_ per say…" Chloe trails off awkwardly, hand rubbing at the back of her neck in a familiar gesture of embarrassment. "Just, you know. Not exactly where I'd want to be with it at this particular point."

"Oh." Somehow that answer didn't seem to have appeased the brunette. "Did you, I don't know, need a tutor or something? I mean, I'm not the best at biology but I find that sometimes studying with someone else and talking about it really helps it stick in your brain, you know?"

"No, that's not necess…" Chloe began but stopped suddenly. This was the moment she had been waiting for. Finally, Beca was actually offering to spend some time with her outside of class. Sure it still involved Biology, but beggars can't be choosers, right? Besides, they can study at each other's houses and she can finally get to know the sassy brunette on a more personal level while bringing up her grades.

It's a win win.

"Actually, you know what? That would be amazing, Becs!" Chloe exclaimed, pouncing on Beca and wrapping her in a patented Chloe Beale bear hug. "Bio is kicking my ass and I could really use that massive brain of yours to help me get up to speed."

"Oh wow, you're a hugger, I should have known." Beca tried to play it off but the redhead could see the blush spread up her cheeks to the tips of her ears.

"Are you free today after school? We could start then?" Chloe asked, almost cooing at the adorable look of an embarrassed Beca.

"Oh wow, someone's eager." And there's the smirk. It amazes Chloe how quick Beca can go from adorable to making her weak in the knees. _Wait what?_

"Today works I guess, where did you want to meet?"

"How about you meet me after school and I can drive us back to my house." Chloe offered, shrugging off the random thought.

"Your house?" Beca looked a little nervous at that, or maybe she looked uncomfortable, Chloe couldn't really tell. All she knew was that this was her chance to finally get to know the girl and she wasn't going to lose it.

"Yeah, of course! I mean, your dad still has your car, right?" The brunette replied with an eye roll and a slight nod. "Well, instead of being forced to endure that trip home, I can drive you to mine and we can study and then you can just walk home, it's only a minute up the road. What do you say?"

She knew it was a low blow bringing her father into it, but all's well that ends well, right? She could see Beca was struggling with the idea a little, so she decided it was time to pull out the big guns.

"Are you seriously doing puppy dog eyes at me, Beale?" Beca whined, covering her face with her hands and letting out a huge sigh. "Fine! Fine, I'll come over to help you study but I am not staying long, can't risk running into your parents. Parents tend to, you know, hate me. Something about the cigarettes and leather jacket make me seem like a corrupter apparently."

Beca's hands flew from her face to her ears as a squeal of excitement escaped the excitable ginger. "That's amazing! I'll meet you by the student carpark after school and then we'll head over. We are going to have so much fun together!"

"We're just studying Beale, how much fun are you expecting to have?"

"Yeah, but we're studying together!" Chloe refuses to let Beca get her down. Beca may be rolling her eyes at her enthusiasm but even Barden's resident badass couldn't push down the small smile that crept on her face. At least she knows Beca isn't actually regretting saying yes like she's trying to convince her she is.

"Okay weirdo, I guess I'll see you later." With one last eye roll at the redhead, Beca shrugs her bag onto her shoulder and takes her leave.

Chloe can't help but stare after the girl as she makes her way through the throng of other students. She loves the plaid Beca has on today. Honestly, Chloe has only seen the girl in plaid, she would be surprised to find out the girl even owned anything else. But today she was wearing the dark blue and red one that Chloe thinks makes her eyes shine so much brighter. Plus, if she really thought about it, that plaid is a little tighter than some of the others she owns. So not only does the brighter colours accentuate her eyes, the tighter fit and open top buttons totally accentuate her…

"What are you smiling at?"

Chloe screams and whips around to find an amused looking Stacie and Aubrey watching her. Well, more like laughing at her now.

"Nothing!" Chloe squeaks, looking back to make sure Beca had totally disappeared before paying full attention to her friends.

"That didn't look like nothing, Chlo." Stacie sing-songed while taking her arm in her own to lead her in the opposite direction Beca had gone. Aubrey saddled up and looped her arm through Chloe's other one as the three of them headed to their next class. "In fact, I do believe that was your sex dream face."

"Gross." Aubrey said with a scrunch of her face.

"What? You have one too, Bree."

"Gross." Chloe repeated with the same look.

"Oh come on guys." Stacie rolled her eyes at the pair before continuing. "Everyone has a face they pull when they're thinking about sex or about how hot someone looks. And _that_ , was your sex face. So what, you saw Tom walking down the hallway and was checking out his ass? You couldn't wait until this afternoon and had a quickie in the bathroom?"

"Stacie! We're on school property, please tell me you're not suggesting that from experience." Aubrey groans like she already knows the answer. Chloe's sure they both already know the answer although the simmering smile on Stacie's face definitely confirms it.

Then she registers what Stacie really said.

"Wait, this afternoon? What's happening this afternoon?"

"Aren't you meeting Tom after school and hanging out tonight?" Aubrey asks confused. "That's why you said you couldn't come shopping with us."

Oh Shit.

She had definitely told the girls last night that she couldn't go shopping with them because she was meeting Tom after school to go out together. And she was definitely not lying when she told them that, because she had organised to meet him. Because he was her boyfriend and she hadn't seen him all week.

He was her boyfriend.

Tom was her boyfriend and she forgot about him.

She was so busy ogling Beca that she forgot about her 6ft, football playing hunk of a boyfriend. The boy so many of the girls in this school would kill to date. The boy she had been dating for just over a year, who had brought her flowers, held the door open for her, sent her cute messages all the time, and she had forgotten about him. And the worst part of it all?

She was trying to think of excuses to tell him so she could continue her plans with Beca.

* * *

"Hey Tom!" Chloe called, though her usual pep was absent. In all honesty she was a little nervous. After two more periods of worrying and rehearsing, Chloe decided to go with the truth. Well, a less in depth version of the truth anyway.

"Sup Babe." Tom smirked as he pulled her into a kiss. Ever since returning from his internship over the summer, Tom had been much more touchy feely in public than even Chloe was comfortable with. While she believed in the expression of love, she had always thought groping in public was just a step too far. As she felt Tom's hands slowly slip down her waist, travelling steadily and dangerously closer to her ass, Chloe pulled away from Tom's kiss and took a baby step back so he could no longer reach the area in question.

Despite her not so subtle rejection to his advances, the smirk never left his face. It was nothing like Beca's however. Beca's smirk was sexy, it was seductive. It implied so many dirty things that even Stacie would blush. It lit up her face in the same way a smile lit up so many others. She smirked like she knew what kind of reaction she would get, whether she was smirking after insulting someone, or she was smirking from amusement, or when she was smirking at the blush she had made bloom across the redhead's face. All in all, Beca's smirk made her look that much more beautiful.

Tom's smirk borderline disgusted her. It made him look smarmy, like that guy that checks you out from across the bar with slicked back hair. The one you know is overconfident in his appearance and smoothness. The one who thinks you're giggling at his jokes and not just chuckling uncomfortably at his awkward and unwanted advances. Or that frat guy that calls every girl babe or the customer that calls you sweetheart and then asks if there's a man around that they can talk to.

Not that she was comparing the two of them(again), no, she was just noticing the differences. She was just noting the changes in Tom since he returned, noting his new, decidedly off-putting behaviour. But he was Tom, and the quarterback, and she was Chloe, and the head cheerleader. They loved each other. She loved him.

She totally did.

She totally did love him.

She just wanted to hang out with Beca more right now. That's all, it didn't mean anything.

"So, I know you were so excited to hang out tonight but I can't."

Okay, so none of Chloe's rehearsals involved Tom blowing her off. He must have seen the confusion on her face and mistaken what it meant because suddenly he's talking again.

"It's just that Bumper's brother came back from college yesterday and he's old enough to buy beer so the team is all going round to his for a guy's night."

So not only is he blowing her off, he's doing it to hang with the boys. Now she doesn't know if she's relieved or annoyed. At least she was ditching him to study, a valid excuse. But to ditch their only date all week to simply hang with the boys? What a dick move.

"We good, Babe?"

Ugh, she didn't know if it was the smirk or the 'babe' that made her cringe but something about him definitely set her off. She opened her mouth to answer him when suddenly he waved over her shoulder at someone else before taking off, only throwing a quick "thanks, you're the best!" over his shoulder as he went.

Ouch.

Okay, that hurt a little. If this was last year Tom would have never done anything like that. He would have asked her if he could go, he would have been loving if she said yes and understanding if she said no. He would have kissed her on the cheek and said he loved her before heading towards his friends, walking backwards and waving at her with his boyish grin. She would have shaken her head at him, waving back as she told him to watch where he's walking before he hurts himself. He would have laughed at her and kept going until he backed into something, finally taking the hint to walk like a normal human but not before yelling 'I love you' for all the world to hear.

But Tom wasn't the same as he was last year, and Chloe was finally realising that she couldn't ignore that fact anymore.

But she couldn't dwell on it right now either, because another brunette was waiting at her car for a study date.

 _A/N: Well that was a long time coming, whoops. Can't make any promises but hopefully I'll be updating a little more now that work has finally settling down. I don't like this whole adult thing, kinda blows. Turns out you have to pay for stuff. Usual admin stuff, please don't forget to review if you would like, I have a tumblr that's under the same name so feel free to look at that. Have a good time with life, until next time._


	7. Study Buddies

"… And then it produces the phenotype, see?"

In all honesty, Chloe did not see. She did not see anything at all. Beca was an amazing tutor, sarcastic remarks aside, but Chloe was being a terrible student. If she had to guess she had probably been zoned out for at least ten minutes, around the time Beca started talking about eye colours. The discussion made her consider the colour of Beca's eyes, and how beautiful they are. It amazed her that they both had blue eyes, but while hers was a vibrant blue, Beca's were nothing short of glacial. She had never seen anything close to it before and her dark eyeliner made them that much more opalescent.

"Oh yeah, totes. Phenotypes and stuff." Chloe couldn't keep the cringe off her own face at her words. And if the smirk plastered across Beca's face was anything to go by, there is a 0 per cent chance that she wasn't caught.

"Yep, phenotypes and stuff." Beca repeated, her face mock serious as she points to the next problem. "So you could, you know, _totes_ answer this question here, with your new knowledge of phenotypes?"

"Of course!" Well that was probably a lie, but Chloe thought that she may as well try to prove Beca wrong and save face. However, the second her eyes landed on the text book and saw a whole bunch of uppercase and lowercase letters in no discernible order she knew she had lost. As the seconds ticked by, she could see Beca in her peripheral vision, her smirk growing and growing to the point where she looked like she was actually struggling to hold back a chuckle.

"You alright there, Red?" And there's the chuckle she had been waiting for, and it sounded so much lighter than she expected from the 'alt-girl'. And no, her heart did not flutter at the sound. That would be utterly ridiculous. "You're taking an awfully long time there."

"Okay fine!" She huffs, falling back into her chair and shoving the hell book away from her. Sure, it is way more dramatic than necessary, but it makes Beca laugh again and maybe that was her goal. "I wasn't listening, I'm sorry. None of this means anything and it's all pointless anyway. What the hell do I need to know about recessive genes for anyway?"

"I feel like, as a ginger, you are required to know about recessive genes for the good of your people." Beca said, mocking sympathetic smile in place. "I mean, that's just me anyway."

"What has recessive genes got to do with my red hair?" Chloe asked, reaching up nervously to touch it.

"Oh my god, seriously?" Beca's sympathetic smile morphing into a teasing one. "I thought you said you weren't failing Bio?"

"Well… C's get degrees, don't they?" Chloe replied desperately, though in the end she couldn't help laughing along with the girl.

"Good God, Beale, this has got to be a new low for Barden's star pupil."

"It's not my fault Bio is stupid and hard!" The redhead defended with an eye roll. "Besides, with you here I should be getting an A+ in no time."

"Yeah, you probably could, if you hadn't been ignoring everything I've been saying for who knows how long." Beca said, one eyebrow raised disapprovingly at the girl in front of her. Chloe had the decency to look away guiltily, scratching her arm and clearing her throat with a quick shrug. "Now what was so important that you felt the need to ignore your amazing, smart and super awesome tutor?"

Chloe giggled, looking into Beca's eyes and found a surprising amount of sincerity underneath her teasing tone. It made Chloe's heart melt that someone that's supposed to be so stoic clearly cares about her feelings, showing more interest in them than her current boyfriend is.

"It's just… Tom." Chloe finishes morosely, arms falling onto the table with her head following shortly after. It wasn't a total lie. While Beca had been the cause of the zoning out, Tom had been on her mind since they parted this afternoon.

"Right, and Tom would be… your Dad? Your Cat?" Beca guessed, looking slightly lost at the sudden change in the redhead, never having seen her be anything less than bubbly and upbeat.

"My boyfriend." She replied, lifting her head up to see a variety of emotions flash across the brunette's face, though none of them Chloe could recognise. All she knew was that Beca's face ended up falling into a space between confused and maybe a little nauseous. But maybe Chloe just wasn't good at reading the smaller girl's expressions yet.

"You have a boyfriend?" Okay and her voice sounded slightly weird too. But, she supposed, they'd never had anything close to a relatively serious conversation before so perhaps this is what her worried voice sounded like.

"Yeah, Tom Anderson? You've probably seen him around school with the other football guys, he's the quarterback." Chloe said.

"Oh, that guy." Beca's face went from one of recognition to one of disgust before she could even think about trying to control it. When it became clear that Chloe had seen her reaction she winced and cleared her throat awkwardly. "Sorry, it's just that I have met him, he's one of Bumper's friends and he's kind of…"

"A douchebag?" Chloe supplied when it became obvious that Beca was looking for a nicer word that didn't put down her own boyfriend.

"Pretty much." Beca finished lamely. "I mean, I'm sure you heard about the hallway incident. After that it became quite clear that me and the football team were never going to be fast friends."

"You mean like we've become?" Chloe asks with a dazzling smile while Beca just rolls her eyes at her.

"I'm not even going to dignify that with an answer." Beca says before her voice drops into a more serious tone. "So, tell me what Ken has done to distract you so much."

"Ken? Really? Does that make me Barbie?" Chloe asks, arms folding over her chest.

"Of course not, you're way too nice to be Barbie, that girl is a total bitch." Beca says seriously before laughing along with the redhead. "And you know that nickname suits him perfectly! He's a pretty boy that has that stupid 'I can get away with anything' smirk on his face all the time. His hair is slicked back every day and his clothes are all fancy. He's a complete airhead, we both know he's been getting his math tutor to do his homework for him instead of help him with it. And last but not least he drives a convertible sports car, Chloe! He is a walking, talking Ken doll and we both know it."

At the end of the description Chloe is full on belly laughing. On one hand, she knew she was supposed to defend her boyfriend. On the other hand, she was surprised she hadn't heard anyone call him that before. Then again, if they were having this conversation four months ago, she wouldn't have agreed with Beca at all.

"You know, he wasn't at all like this last year." Chloe began, sobering up slightly and watching Beca do the same. "Actually, that's the whole reason I was distracted. This may be a surprise to you but Tom used to be very sweet. Last year he was that guy from every romantic comedy that women just fell head over heels for. He was goofy and charming and caring and _nice_. But now…"

Chloe didn't even realise she was looking at her lap until she felt a soft hand rest over her own. Turns out the hand belonged to Beca, and along with the hand she received a soft, supportive smile from the girl too. If she had to guess, she would say that not many people in the world had seen this sensitive side and her heart warmed at the fact that she trusted Chloe enough to let it show. Chloe matched the girl's sad smile before making a move she wasn't sure would be received well but couldn't stop herself from attempting anyway. Chloe slowly turned her hand over and grasped the smaller girls hand in her own, threading their fingers together and sighing contentedly when Beca didn't pull away but instead gripped back in a short squeeze.

"Now?" Beca asks encouragingly, urging the redhead to continue.

"Now it's like someone sent his asshole twin back in his place!" Chloe blurts out, a massive weight leaving her chest as she finally said out loud what she had been thinking the last couple of weeks. "He has been rude and inattentive and just an all-around jerk face. I have no idea what happened to him out there but he's so different. To most other people he's still the same guy, but that's only because the one thing that hasn't changed is his ability to be super charming when he wants to be. My parents still love him, my friends still do, the teachers, the principal, the whole damn school is still in love with him but I don't know if… I don't know if I can love this new him."

"Oh Chlo, I'm sorry." Beca soothes, rubbing circles on the back of her hand with her thumb. "Have you talked to anyone about this? I'm sure Posen and Conrad would be understanding about all this."

"I can't." Chloe rejects tearfully with a shake of her head.

"Why not? If you're unhappy then maybe they can help?"

"But I can't!" Chloe cries desperately, a tear finally falling from her eye. "The football and cheerleading teams are super close, heaps of us are dating each other. I know if I told Aubrey and Stacie they would be super supportive but that would also involve them probably punching Tom in the face. It would cause too much of a rift and people would take sides and it would be a mess. It would be the same if we broke up too. Plus, not to brag but we're like, the _it_ couple, the one that people come to for advice like we're married and have all the answers. We're supposed to be together, everyone says so and I don't know what it would be like to fight with him, let alone break up."

"But Chloe, you can't just be with someone just because that's what everyone expects you to do." Beca implores, dipping her head to make eye contact with the downtrodden redhead. "That's not fair on him and more importantly it's not fair on you. But before you get ahead of yourself and talk about breaking up with him, have you tried talking to him about it? Asking if anything's going on or why he seems different to you? Maybe he doesn't realise what he's doing or how it's effecting you."

"I've mentioned it once or twice." Chloe said, thinking back. "But I've never sat him down and had a serious conversation with him about it. I think maybe because it's only been two weeks, I thought he might eventualy snap out of it by himself. You know, like maybe he was just adjusting to being back and having to spend time around everyone again."

"Well, as much as you don't have to be with someone because other people expect you to be, you also don't have to put up with someone treating you poorly." Beca says serious. "So make sure you talk to him okay? I'm sure once he sees how upset you really are he'll realise what a douchebag he's been and go back to being the nice guy he's apparently capable of being. And next time don't keep it all bottled up inside to the point where you're venting to a complete stranger, you're an ugly crier so you might end up chasing the next one away."

"Hey!" Chloe scolded though she couldn't stop herself from laughing at the brunette. "I am not an ugly crier! And you're not a complete stranger, we're fast friends, remember?"

"I know, I just had to get you to stop crying somehow!" Beca groaned, as if dealing with crying girls was the bane of her existence. "If I have learnt anything in my life it's that guys just aren't worth crying over, there's more important things happening in the world. Besides, you'll be fine. You have nice parents and supportive friends, Tom is just an extra."

Oddly enough, that kind of made her feel better. It wasn't exactly eloquent and by the look on the shorter girl's face she knew it too. But thinking about how many great things she has in her life besides Tom made her feel like it wasn't quite as bad as she thought it was. Like losing Tom wouldn't be the worst thing in the world because she had people there like Beca to catch her.

"Now, are we done with the touchy feely shit? Because we have more important things to focus on, like Biology." Beca stated awkwardly before letting go of Chloe's hand and swinging back into the table to grab the text book.

Chloe wouldn't be able to describe the empty feeling she felt in her chest when Beca let go of her hand even if there was a gun pointed at her head. She had held hands with so many people before, her parents, past boyfriends, Aubrey and Stacie, even Tom, but none of them had given her the same feeling she got from the brunette. Her hand was cold now, it felt awkward. She just wanted to reach out and grab back onto Beca's hand, to feel its comfort once again. But even she knew that would be weird, pushing at boundaries that even she didn't think she could comfortably cross. So instead Chloe pulled it off the table and gripped it in her other hand as a poor substitute and tried to ignore the lack of sensation.

"Right, Biology. I forgot the fun-filled reason I used to drag you here in the first place." Chloe says, proud to note that the shake in her voice had all but completely disappeared. "You sure you want to do that? We could always talk about your love life next?"

"Oh hell no, we are so not talking about that." Beca chuckled, shaking her head rapidly when she saw the glint in Chloe's eyes. "Nope, not even a little bit, Beale."

"Oh come on Becs!" Chloe jested, bouncing in her seat a little much to Beca's amusement. "Are you single? Dating anyone? Like anyone? Tell me, tell me, tell me!"

"Good lord you're like a fucking puppy." Beca chuckled, booping the redhead on the nose. "Down girl, Jesus. That's a yes, a hell no and yet another no. Sorry to disappoint with the lack of gossip."

"Well what about the last person you dated?" Chloe asked, not letting it go. "Surely you haven't gotten all of this dating knowledge from being a nun your whole life."

"Oh hardy ha ha." Beca snorted but a smile stayed on her face during her customary eye roll. "I haven't dated anyone since sophomore year actually. Dating only seems to lead to drama and I cannot be bothered dealing with more of that in my life right now. Besides, I seem to be a theatrical magnet, so even the girls that seem the nicest seem to drag me into the weirdest shit when I let them. So no thanks. No thanks to pretty much any of that."

"Yeah I get that, girls always seem to be a part of…" Chloe trailed off and her eyes widened as it seemed to finally register what she was saying.

"Girls?" She squeaked out.

"Yeah, I'm gay." Now Beca looks properly confused. "That's why Bumper tried to be an asshole to me last week and why the whole football team pretty much hates me. The whole school knows, I thought you did too. Didn't you know?"

And holy fuck she certainly did not know. She did not know that Beca was a lesbian even though it seems like everyone else does.

And she certainly did not know that there was a chance that the girl she had been secretly crushing on could like her back.

 _A/N: Another chapter I know, it's almost like I've got too much time off work or something…_

 _Anyway, usual shit, Tumblr is real and I'm on it with the same name, reviews are nice for me despite being a chore for you, and aliens are real. Have fun with life kids, see ya next time._


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